Manchester City player John Stones earned the plaudits of both manager Pep Guardiola and fans after the defender shone in an unfamiliar position in his side’s 4-1 dismantling of Liverpool.
The 28-year-old England international played a starring role as Guardiola’s team came from behind to thrash Jurgen Klopp’s men at the Etihad on Saturday.
Despite the absence of talismanic striker Erling Haaland, who was sidelined through injury, City ran rampant in front of their home crowd to pile yet more misery on Klopp and co. in what has been a largely disappointing season for the Reds.
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Mo Salah had given the visitors the lead following a sweeping move after 17-minutes but the hosts hit back ten minutes later through Julian Alvarez.
Kevin De Bruyne then gave City the lead when he latched on to a pinpoint Riyad Mahrez cross before a silky passage of play from Guardiola’s side culminated in an emphatic finish from Ilkay Gundogan.
The impressive Jack Grealish then completed the rout with 15 minutes to play when he prodded home from a De Bruyne cutback.
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But it was the contribution of Stones, who migrated into a defensive midfield role alongside Rodri which Klopp simply had no answer to, that had many fans talking after the final whistle.
Stones never looked out of place sitting in front of City’s defensive unit, and was singled out for particular praise following his role in City’s third goal.
Popping up in little pockets of space between Liverpool’s midfield and forwards, breaking lines with runs forward, and spraying pinpoint diagonal passes across the turf, Stones looked effortlessly comfortable in the centre of the pitch.
So much so that many fans took to social media to express their joy at watching Stones pulling strings in the heart of Guardiola’s engine room.
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One Twitter user posted: “John Stones played his role perfectly today.”
“Man looks like he’s grew up playing this role,” another added.
A third said: “Stones was just mesmerising to watch!”
While a fourth simply wrote: “This is Pirlo.”
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Stones’ performance also garnered the admiration of his manager, with Guardiola adding: “It’s not easy for him, he has the quality to play there, it’s different when you see the game in front of you, he’s surrounded by their players.
“Like a bubble, to play there is not easy. He has a lot of personality, alongside Rodri and Ruben [Dias] and Nathan [Ake] help a lot. He played really good.”
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: John Stones, Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool, Manchester City, Premier League, England, Football